The latest Ethereum Initial Coin Offering (ICO) participant has once again cashed out a significant amount of Ether as they liquidate holdings from the 2014 ICO. According to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain, an Ethereum whale sold 3,000 Ether (ETH) on October 24, more than $7.6 million at current market prices.
It follows the whale’s previous sale of 10,000 ETH over the past few months, including a 7,000 ETH transaction in July that sent Ethereum’s price sliding 15 percent. While this puts a long dent in the amount he still owns (37,000 ETH, or about $94 million at the time of writing), it doesn’t definitively say what he’s going to do with the remaining 37,000.
Ethereum’s ICO and the Whale’s Holdings
Specifically, Ethereum’s ICO was held last year through preICO, and the whale acquired 254,908 ETH. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum was launched through an ICO, allowing investors to buy Ether tokens in exchange for Bitcoin. However, with around $18 million raised by the ICO, it took in some 31,000 BTC. Ether was sold at an initial price of approximately $0.30 per token.
An #Ethereum ICO participant sold 3K $ETH($7.64M) again 55 mins ago.
The last time this whale sold 7K $ETH($24.28M) was on July 1, after which the price of $ETH dropped nearly 15%.
This whale received 254,908 $ETH during the ICO(initial cost was $79K, now worth $646M), and… pic.twitter.com/iAZEVDKmkf
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 24, 2024
This ICO produced a new class of Ethereum millionaires, most of whom held onto their tokens for years. Although Whales recently sold some of the early ETH they purchased during the ICO, their current holdings still make up most of the ETH first bought during that ICO.
Market Response and Price Impact
Unlike the July sale, the latest sale of 3,000 Ethereum didn’t see a significant drop in price from Ethereum’s market price. According to data from CoinGecko, Ethereum is down by a modest 2.4 percent in the last 24 hours and continues to trade around $2,521 at the time of writing. Ether has been down slightly over the past month, but digital currency has been up 38% in the past year.
However, the latest sell-off didn’t excite much market action. Still, analysts are closely watching what else the whale has to give up, as the amount of Ethereum represented by the whale’s remaining holdings is enormous and could be liquidated in the future.